Soulscaper Logo

People have been asking about our Soulscaper logo ever since Anne first created the guy in 2002. He was two-feet high in vinyl, on the side of Harvey the RV as I pedaled through the 50 states. He's on the cover of One Wheel - Many Spokes, and he's still with us for Straight Into Gay America. (See him on our homepage)

Anne's work in feminist spirituality and her love for art inspired dozens and dozens of these characters she calls Soulscapers (landscaping the soul)

Last week as we talked about typesetting for Straight Into Gay America, Anne got inspired to paint another three dozen Soulscapers. Kent took a look and said they'd be a great addition to the layout of the book. Here are two preview paintings.

Thank you, Anne. It's nice to have an artist in the family. If you'd like to see Anne's paintings you can visit her website at www.lakechelanart.com If you like the soulscapers, there's a contact form on the website where you can drop her a note.

"Yours is a story that must be told—it’s difficult to express how your manuscript has provided me with a renewed sense of my own purpose, and that of PFLAG...a truly remarkable and critically important story."

Jody Huckaby (Executive Director for PFLAG) sent the foreword today that will appear in Straight Into Gay America. After I read it, I sat for a long time, soaking it in, knowing that I'd just received a real gift for my soul.

In the polarizations that swirl through the journey toward equal rights, words of encouragement and support are priceless. Isolation creates so much fear and doubt.

I look forward to when I can share Jody Huckaby's foreword with you. It's the last piece of putting Straight Into Gay America -- a strong connection to the broader community. It will serve as a personal strength for me in those times of doubt, and in those times of answering why I choose to be an LGBT ally.

Thanks to everyone who shares encouragement with others. What a gift to hold and to be held in a caring community.

4 Strategies to overcome anti-gay election-season politics.

BTW: Yesterday's Unicycle Jamboree

in Sultan, Washington was as big a highlight

as ever. (And it didnt' rain).

Politics: I felt bad when I read yesterday's newspaper article about the ballot initiative effort to repeal Washington State's gay rights bill.

Straight Into Gay America is at the typesetter, ready for production, and I haven't even weighed in against Tim Eyman approaching 5,400 Washington churches today on what he's calling, "Referendum Sunday."

The article says Tim is "using a page torn from Karl Rove's playbook," inflaming anti-gay feelings in advance of the November election. Many predicted the return to an anti-gay strategy during this election season. Few are suprised.

The time is here: Now I have to figure out in what manner to be part of this fray. These four strategies seem possible.

• Share Facts
• Offer Arguments
• Organize Actions
• Tell Stories

I support all the arguments, actions, and fact-sharing work that helps LGBT equal rights. (See some of the major LGBT justice organizations and their work: www.pflag.org, www.thetaskforce.org, www.hrc.org, www.soulforce.org, www.lambdalegal.org, etc).

But on this Sunday morning when much of our nation will sit in churches and hear stories from that master-storyteller Jesus, I think about how stories change our lives; the Prodigal Son, the woman at the well, Jesus on the cross. I think Jesus had a good idea. Tell stories. Share experiences. Overcome fear by honoring one another.

Here's a story: Two men met in Central Park 50 years ago. They've lived together all those years. I met them at the New York City Pride Parade last summer while I was unicycling. The two men were celebrating 50 years together, and 1 year of marriage. Massachusetts law had finally allowed them to make a public declaration of their lifetime of commitment to one another. Read this Straight Into Gay America excerpt.

I'm going to look for Tim Eyman's address and share this story with him. I'm going to see what difference a story may make.

What are your strategies?

Blessings, Lars

Straight Into Gay America: Latest News

Hello dear friends,


On Asking For Help
May 19, 2006
Kai's friend stood outside the door,waiting, hoping to get noticed so Kai would bike with him. I was that shy kid when I grew up. But now, if I don't push myself, I'll just wait for people to notice Straight Into Gay America. I'm knocking.
Click here for the complete story.

Thanks for supporting the STRAIGHT INTO GAY AMERICA journey. We're currently in the book production phase. Pub-date is scheduled for July 20, the one-year anniversary of finishing the tour. We'll keep you posted. Lars


CLICK HERE TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS MAILING LIST.

Unicycle Jamboree

"Are you sure you want to go to the unicycle jamboree? It's raining." And, I thought to myself, "It's a three-hour drive."

"I want to go," said KariAnna last night.

It's still raining this morning, but the thrill of spending a day with 100 other grade-school unicyclers should brighten our day. Our family is headed to the 4th annual Sultan Elementary School unicycle jamboree. These are the folks who had a parade for me as I was riding across the United States. These are the folks who hosted my publication date party for One Wheel - Many Spokes.

Every time we go to Sultan I get inspired by the kids. The ones who are just learning inspire me with persistence. The tricksters who ride one-footed, or backwards, or on 6-foot unicycles show me passion. And the two teachers, Dee and Rob, they teach me about love. Week after week, year after year, they keep showing up for the kids, encouraging, leading, and offering support. I'm looking forward to soaking up this energy today, even if we're soaking up Seattle rain at the same time.

All best wishes for a wonderful weekend,
Lars

Poet Cynthia Gustavson finds Straight Into Gay America "vulnerable."

Finishing writing a book feels like coming out of a solitary cave. The two hours I spent each morning, all winter, all alone, writing Straight Into Gay America are transforming into a flurry of production and 'get-the-word-out' activity. Progress is happening.

Cynthia Gustavson called me yesterday, "The proofreading is finished."

"It's a vulnerable book." she told me. Cynthia attended the national assembly of the Lutheran Church last summer, the one where the assembly addressed the question of ordination for gay and lesbian partnered couples. "You've addressed all the faith questions that I've thought of but haven't dared to ask in public. At times," she said, "when I put the book down after finishing a section, I found it hard to return to my regular routine of the day."

Cynthia was looking for errors in my book. I'm thankful she found more, especially because Cynthia is a well-known poet-therapist. Check out her website, www.cynthiagustavson.com. Lots of poems. Lots of free ebooks. Books for sale. I didn't discover Cynthia's website until after she'd read my book. After learning more about Cynthia, I feel even more deeply grateful that she provided the final grammatical blessing to this book.

Publishing a book changes a person's life. From proofreading to giving a bookstore reading, it's all about the stories we share. Thanks for sharing the journey.

Remember: Straight Into Gay America is a word-of-mouth book. That's your mouth we're depending on.

Remembering the sons.

My friend's son died two days ago. The dad is in his 70's, and he and I used to bicycle a lot together. The son was in his 40's. An agressive brain cancer finally overcame him.

I wish I could be with my friend today, but he lives many states distant from my home in Washington State.

In the memorial letter that the dad sent out he talked of his son as a fan of organic food and a champion of progressive causes. He hoped that others would carry the son's energy forward.

Reading the letter of this proud dad made me remember a very different funeral I attended in Nome, Alaska, at the Catholic Church. The funeral was for the middle aged son of a Nome family. This son was gay and had lived and died in San Francisco, far from home. After the service a friend of mine was sobbing (one of the only openly gay men in Nome at that time) I thought his tears were grief. Instead they were anger and frustration and all the emotion of being denied his own life. "They said he died of cancer. How could they say that? He died of AIDS. They never mentioned his partner's name once...I'm sorry," he apologized for his sobs, "but how can they do this to the memory of his life?"

Prayers today for my friend, and the family of my friend, and all who loved the son who has passed. During these crazy days of producing and publishing Straight Into Gay America, I sometimes feel more like a student of marketing than a student of justice. As I remember my friend and the death of his son, I remember again the gift of life and the ongoing tensions of how to be honest with our lives and with the memories that we create each day. I would like to be one who carries the energy of the son forward.

Blessings for the gift and the challenge, Lars